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Despite Amazon having the overall advantage in retail e-commerce, consumers prefer Walmart’s storefronts and websites for grocery shopping, according to a Jungle Scout analysis.

According to a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers, 57% prefer to buy at Walmart for groceries, compared to 15% who choose Amazon.com, according to Jungle Scout’s “2022 Amazon vs. Walmart Report.” The Walmart statistic includes 24% of consumers who prefer to buy groceries online and 32% who prefer to do it in-store.

According to research from Austin, Texas-based Jungle Scout, a provider of an e-commerce platform for selling on Amazon, Walmart also receives a thumbs-up from customers as their primary destination for purchases in a variety of other categories seen at the grocery store.

For instance, 34% of respondents said they prefer to purchase at Walmart for alcohol (15% at Walmart.com) as opposed to 12% at Amazon, and 51% choose Walmart for cleaning goods (19% at Walmart.com), as opposed to 18% at Amazon.

The following categories pertaining to grocery stores also gave Walmart the upper hand: For baby care, 32% prefer shopping at Walmart (16% at Walmart.com), compared to 15% at Amazon; for beauty/personal care, 46% prefer Walmart (20% at Walmart.com); for over-the-counter medications, 49% prefer Walmart (20% at Walmart.com); for pet supplies, 43% prefer Walmart (19% at Walmart.com); and for vitamins and supplements, 44% prefer Walmart (18% at Walmart.com), compared to 19% at Amazon.

Grocery stores have mostly been unaffected one week after Hurricane Ian wreaked damage and floods in coastal South Carolina and sections of North Carolina. According to Lindsey Kueffner, the executive director of the council, the Carolinas Food Industry Council keeps a “seat at the table” in the emergency operations centers of both states.

The council informs its members before, during, and after major storms like Ian. The group organizes store passes, shares municipal limitations as they are made public, and tracks curfews to provide storm updates. After a storm or other significant tragedy, the club works tirelessly to assist members in getting back up and running, according to Kueffner. Retail members in North and South Carolina fared relatively well this time around. There were some issues in some instances, but they fared well altogether,” she said.

Grocers in both states are facing many of the same problems affecting the business as a whole, aside from a Category 1 hurricane. They have grown “nimble and creative” as a result of problems with the supply chain and labor scarcity. Kueffner clarified that businesses are figuring out various strategies to manage the stressed supply chain. In an effort to retain and recruit employees, 77 percent of supermarkets have raised pay, according to Kueffner, who cited a recent FMI poll.

In one instance, she had heard of a business hiring financial experts to assist staff in making long-term plans. Grocers continue to struggle to draw in younger generations and are making an effort to speak to their moral convictions. As it collaborates with prospective parties to combat cargo theft, the council is looking for measures to stifle organized retail crime. Along with reducing retail crime, the group wants to enact the federal Prep Act, which will help businesses with pharmacies in both states.

The CFIC is pushing for the availability of ready-to-drink cocktails in grocery shops in North Carolina especially. Although booze sales are permitted solely in state-run stores, these cocktails are permitted in South Carolina.

Before any of these bills are heard in legislative chambers, time will pass. While North Carolina does not have a session limit, South Carolina’s legislative session lasts from January to May. While parliamentarians recently ended their session, Kueffner claimed that they had been in session until “August or September.”Members of the CFIC are optimistic regardless of when these problems are brought up.

“We’re always advocating for the retail industry. We do that by first getting input from our members. They want these things passed,” Kueffner explained. Additionally, the application period for its scholarships will start in late November or early December. In July, CFIC held its yearly convention.

The top grocery technology business in North America, Instacart, has introduced an improved ad-buying experience in its self-service interface, Ads Manager, placing marketing goals in the spotlight for brand partners.

The shoppable video commercials from Instacart streamline the process from inspiration and discovery to purchase by combining immersive rich media creative with a selection of in-line shoppable products.

 Instacart brand partners can expedite the setup of their advertisements by refocusing their campaigns on their particular objectives. The new Ads Manager framework offers customized recommendations for the ad formats, targeting, and bidding options to help brands accomplish their campaign goals of “reach,”  or “maximize sales.” Over 5,500 brand partners on Instacart now have access to more guidance and options thanks to this new objective-based approach.

Instacart provides businesses of all sizes with a comprehensive selection of full-funnel ad options in Ads Manager that let them engage and excite customers throughout the whole purchasing process. Pop-Ups, Pages, Shoppable Display, and now Shoppable Video are just a few of the new inspirational and discovery products that Instacart has introduced this year. These products use the greatest storytelling and inspiration to increase conversion. These key items are a perfect complement to Instacart’s core sponsored product offering, which enables businesses to optimize sales and category share while securing first-class digital shelf space.

Since its debut in 2020, Ads Manager has assisted companies and agency partners in defining advertising objectives, creating personalized budgets and timetables, managing content, and managing Instacart Ads at the campaign level.

With 16 additional health clinics scheduled to open by the fall of 2023, Walmart Health has announced plans to increase Florida’s access to convenient, inexpensive, and accessible healthcare. We can expect new openings in; Hudson, Kissimmee, Lutz, New Port Richey, Ocoee, Pinellas Park, Plant City, St. Petersburg, Winter Garden, and Zephyrhills, along with three in Orlando and Jacksonville.

The brand-new facilities, which are positioned next to Walmart Supercenters, will offer a variety of medical services seven days a week in one handy place. Primary care, laboratories, X-rays, EKGs, dental, hearing, behavioral health, a few specialized treatments, and community health are some of the services that may differ depending on the area.

This year saw the opening of the first six Walmart Health stores in Florida. The addition of these new locations will increase the reach to 22 facilities throughout the Sunshine State. In Florida, Walmart has 387 retail locations and 120,954 employees.

As part of a recent partnership between Walmart and UnitedHealth Group, specific locations in Florida and Georgia will also start providing full value-based treatment to some Medicare Advantage customers beginning in January 2023.

Over 230 million customers and members visit Walmart’s more than 10,500 locations each week.

In an effort to increase access to COVID-19 vaccinations, testing, and treatments, DoorDash announces that they are partnering with Walgreens To help vulnerable Americans. Walgreens will arrange the free doorstep delivery of prescriptions for Paxlovid, an oral COVID-19 drug that can lower the risk of hospitalization and mortality. Through this new program, patients who have a Paxlovid prescription being filled at Walgreens will be able to receive free direct home delivery of their medication from DoorDash. For elders and those who reside in socially vulnerable communities, this is particularly important.

Through Walgreens.com and the Walgreens app, eligible customers will be able to receive free same-day delivery of Paxlovid using contactless delivery powered by Drive, DoorDash’s white-label fulfillment platform that enables direct delivery for any business.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, DoorDash has collaborated with the White House, CalOES, the state of Ohio, and other organizations to provide more than $3 million in gift cards from Community Credits to increase vaccine access. The James Beard Foundation, DC Central Kitchen, and Metropolitan Family Services of Chicago were among the recipients of DoorDash’s donation of approximately 40,000 at-home COVID testing. Other recipients were the cities of Chicago, Seattle, New York City, and Washington, D.C. DoorDash is expanding access by driving the delivery of goods that lead to healthier, better results for communities across the nation through its multi-year relationship with Walgreens.

Uber has also been at the forefront of making sure that all communities have access to the resources needed to fight COVID-19, including a commitment to provide 10 million free or discounted rides to vaccination appointments in communities that need them the most and a 2021 partnership with the White House to offer free rides nationwide. With alternatives for stress-free transportation and essential deliveries provided by Uber Health, millions of people are connected to the care they require every day, resulting in better patient outcomes.

In the past, Uber and Walgreens collaborated to establish the Vaccine Access Fund, which provided rides and donations to assist in getting people from underserved communities to and from COVID-19 vaccination sites.

Aldi U.S. wants to take its online presence to the next level.

The parent company of the discount retailer, which is based in Germany, announced on Tuesday that it is collaborating with e-commerce expert Spryker Systems to create a new online grocery and food shopping experience for the American market, which will include grocery delivery and/or curbside pickup.

Aldi claims that the brand-new digital commerce platform is currently being evaluated by a select group of American consumers and will be introduced to the entire country in phases. Scott Patton, vice president of national buying for Aldi, said in a statement that “our partnership with Spryker will allow our customers another opportunity to access the incredible value they expect from Aldi.”

When Patton gave a tour of an Aldi store in Brooklyn New York late last month, he revealed that Aldi. was working on a project to change its information-only U.S. website into a transactional e-commerce website.”The website is coming. We’re going to have it here as quickly as we can, Patton added. And it will have a shoppable website with prices, goods, and everything else that customers want.”

Aldi has so far partnered with Instacart to develop its omnichannel presence. By the end of the year, the company hopes to increase the number of locations participating in its Curbside Grocery Pickup service, powered by Instacart, from over 1,200 to 1,500. Following a prior service pilot, Aldi had previously announced a 600-store rollout of curbside pickup in May 2020. Last year, they added an additional 500+ curbside locations.

As part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Aldi has also teamed with San Francisco-based Instacart to offer electronic benefit transfer payments for online grocery pickup and delivery orders. In November 2020, Aldi and Instacart began integrating SNAP EBT in more than 60 stores in Georgia. In December of that same year, the rollout was expanded to more than 570 locations in Illinois, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas. They announced an expanded deployment to 1,000 additional stores later that month. More than 1,500 Aldi outlets now provide the SNAP EBT program.

In August 2017, Aldi announced a partnership with Instacart for online grocery delivery. In the fall of 2018, the chain began offering same-day delivery. Nearly all of Aldi’s stores now provide delivery. In November 2019, the retailer added alcohol delivery through Instacart.